Nonstop flight route between Vologda, Russia and Falkland Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vologda Airport (VGD), Vologda, Russia and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,411 miles (or 15,146 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Vologda Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Vologda Airport and RAF Mount Pleasant. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Vologda Airport (VGD):

• In addition to being known as "Vologda Airport", another name for VGD is "Аэропорт Вологда".
• Because of Vologda Airport's relatively low elevation of 387 feet, planes can take off or land at Vologda Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The closest airport to Vologda Airport (VGD) is Cherepovets (CEE), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) W of VGD.
• The furthest airport from Vologda Airport (VGD) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,578 miles (17,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Vologda Airport (VGD) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• On 2 March 2012, the Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called for Aerolineas Argentinas flights to Buenos Aires to replace LAN Airlines flights to Chile.
• Additionally, every Saturday LAN Airlines operates a scheduled commercial flight to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport of the Punta Arenas city in southern Chile, stopping at Río Gallegos, Argentina once a month.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• Using the IATA airport code MPN, RAF Mount Pleasant also acts as the Falkland Islands' only international airport, along with its military role.
• After the surrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potential Argentine air attacks from Argentina, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Mount Pleasant (meaning RAF Mount Pleasant is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• On 10 November 2011, it was announced that Prince William would be serving as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.